Immigration Policy Center

65,000 Bay Area immigrants could benefit from deportation policy, study states

Published on Sun, Aug 05, 2012

IPC's own Wendy Sefsaf was quoted in a Mercury News article about DREAMers living in the Bay Area. In that area alone, there are about 65,000 immigrants who could benefit from Obama's new deportation policy coming into effect August 15, 2012. But the Bay Area isn't the only region of the country with hopeful DREAMers: Read more...

Published in the Mercury News

DHS Announces Application Process for Deferred Action, IPC Provides Data on Where Eligible Individuals Reside

Released on Fri, Aug 03, 2012

August 3, 2012

Washington D.C. - Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released important details about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process, which will temporarily allow some eligible youth to go to school and work without fear of deportation. A recent Immigration Policy Center (IPC) report, Who and Where the DREAMers Are: A Demographic Profile of Immigrants Who Might Benefit from the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action Initiative, provides the most detailed look to date at who is likely to benefit from the new program and where they are located in the country.

The IPC estimates that roughly 936,930 undocumented youth between the ages of 15 and 30 might immediately qualify to apply for the new program. The new report breaks down the deferred action-eligible population by nationality and age at the national and state level, as well as by congressional district.

Because potential applicants reside in all states and every congressional district, today’s announcement clarifying the application process sets the stage for an intense period of preparation around the country, as communities wait for the request form to be released on August 15. The DACA program is designed for young people who are under the age of 31; entered the United States before age 16; have resided in the country for at least five years as of June 15, 2012; have not been convicted of a felony, a “significant” misdemeanor, or three other misdemeanors; and are currently in school, graduated from high school, earned a GED, or served in the military.

Among the key points shared by USCIS:
Read more...

View Release

Meet the immigrant Olympians

Published on Mon, Jul 30, 2012

IPC's Immigration Impact blog was referred to by Southern California Public Radio's Leslie Berestein Rojas in her own blog about immigration and cultural fusion in Southern California. The article gives tribute to the diverse US athletes participating in this year's exciting Olympic Games: Read more...

Published in the Southern California Public Radio: Multi-American

Ten Way Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy

Published on Thu, Jul 12, 2012

The White House Blog cited IPC statistics about the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians to highlight how immigrants help strengthen our economy.

Immigrants boost demand for local consumer goods. The Immigration Policy Center estimates that the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians, many of whom are immigrants, alone will reach $1.5 trillion and $775 billion, respectively, by 2015. Read more...

Published in the The White House Blog

How the Supreme Court Ruled on SB 1070 and What It Means for Other States

Released on Wed, Jul 25, 2012

Washington, D.C.—One month ago today, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Arizona v. United States, which invalidated three provisions of the immigration law known as “SB 1070” and left a fourth open to future challenges. More than any matter in recent history, the case settled a range of important questions regarding the role that states may play in the enforcement of federal immigration law. As a result, the ruling will affect not only SB 1070, but the fate of other state immigration laws being challenged in court and the odds of similar laws passing around the country.

Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases an updated version of its Q&A on Arizona v. United States, which discusses how the Supreme Court decided the case and what the ruling means for immigration laws in other states. As debates over the ruling continue, understanding the basis for the Court’s opinion will prove critically important in furthering a rational discussion on the implications of the decision.

To view the Q&A Guide in its entirety, see:

How the Supreme Court Rules on SB 1070 and What it Means for Other States (IPC Special Report, July 2012.)

###

For more information, contact Wendy Sefsaf at [email protected] or 202- 812-2499.

View Release

Time to stop overgeneralizing about immigrants

Published on Wed, Jul 11, 2012

IPC's senior policy analyst Michele Waslin was quoted in a Washington Post article about the complexity of immigration law and the dangers of overgeneralizing:

"The confusion with the military aspect has been troubling these last couple of weeks because so many people get it wrong. It really shows the need for education on how immigration rules really work," said Michele Waslin, the senior policy analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center. "Immigration law is really, really complex and people think you're either legal or you're not, even though there are lots of different types of statuses." Read more...

Published in the The Washington Post

Undocumented youth laud ‘Deferred Action’ policy

Published on Wed, Jun 27, 2012

The Asian Journal highlighted the IPC's Q&A Guide to the President's deferred action policy:

Meanwhile, many organizations have formed seminars and briefings to help people better understand the Deferred Action Policy, how the process will work and who will benefit from it. One such organization is the Immigration Policy Center which held a tele-briefing on June 21 with experts who discussed the Administration’s legal authority behind this move, what’s currently known about the process and how politics are shaping up around the decision. Read more...

Published in the Asian Journal

How the President's Deferred Action Initiative Will Help the U.S. Economy

Published on Fri, Jun 29, 2012

IPC head researcher Walter Ewing wrote a blog post for New American Media about the economic benefit of the Obama administration's deferred action program: Read more...

Published in the New American Media

Congressman Barletta challenges President Obama over immigration order

Published on Tue, Jul 03, 2012

IPC staff lawyer Ben Winograd was quoted in a story about the legality of the Obama Administration's deferred action memo: Read more...

Published in the The Morning Call

Romney Debuts a Lighter Touch on Immigration

Published on Fri, Jun 22, 2012

IPC Senior Policy Analyst Michele Waslin was quoted in a TIME article covering Romney's stance on immigration:

According to a State Department report from November 2011, in fiscal year 2012 there are 322,636 people in countries around the world awaiting approval to join legal permanent-resident family members in the U.S. Many others who are eligible already live here, according to Michele Waslin of the Immigration Policy Center, some of whom are undocumented and legally awaiting a change in status.

Published in the TIME